Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust is a LGBTQ+ YA Fantasy novel with enemies to lovers and forbidden love tropes. This book is about a princess named Soraya with a power, or rather a curse, that kills anything she touches. Cursed before birth by a div, a magical faerie, and all her misfortunes make her question if she is a princess or simply a monster with poison rushing through her veins.
Meren is secret royalty living under an alias in order to protect her princess sister. The identical twin to the crown princess, Meren steps in when the seen royal is in potential danger. After the queen passes and the ruthless King Eidolon demands to be wed to the crown princess, that potential danger increases dramatically. That’s why when Meren takes her sister’s place at the princess’ coronation, Meren is the one kidnapped by a mysterious stranger. Dragged through the woods and across the continents, Meren is amazed at the world around her.
The live-action The Little Mermaid (2023 version) is a Disney movie based on the original The Little Mermaid. The movie is about Ariel, a mermaid who dreams of living on land with humans. When she falls in love with a human prince, she makes a deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to trade her voice for legs.
The Crown is the final book in The Selection series. It follows Princess Eadlyn through the final stages of her Selection process. Although picking a husband might sound fairly easy, for Eadlyn, it's not. She can’t date privately and she has a timeline at which the Selection must progress. This, on top of other factors, including her mother’s health, makes her feel like she isn't fit to be royal.
The Glass Queen is a wonderful book. It is an interesting retelling of Cinderella but a bit complex as the world it takes place in has fairytales, a well-known phenomenon, fairytales are complex with the participants never knowing what roles or roles they will play at any given time. The premise of this specific book is interesting, but the characters are really the catch. Ashleigh is a strong and caring person, really in the most perfect mix.
Red Queen introduces readers to Mare Barrow, a young girl living in a world divided by blood; Reds, commoners with red blood, and Silvers, elite individuals with silver blood who possess extraordinary abilities. Mare, a Red, finds herself thrust into the midst of Silver royalty after discovering she possesses a unique power of her own.
Nobody's Princess is a great historical fiction story about Helen of Troy. It does not support history but tells a mythological fiction story about her based on what we know. This was such a great girls disguised as boys themed book. I am looking forward to reading the sequel about our main woman of steel Helen. It is a very good book but it drops off at the end so you need the sequel about Helen's adventures in the Mediterranean Region.
So you know the basic idea of the fairy-tale and folklore-inspired fiction: Princess Aurore had a christening party which was interrupted by a slighted uninvited guest who casts a curse over the poor child. In the fantasy fiction curse when she turns 16 she will prick her finger and one drop of blood will fall and Aurore will die. Another guest utters a counterspell in the suspenseful tale, and the guest at least is not a fairy in this book.
What makes Dragon's Keep work for me is its approach: a medieval fantasy written more like historical fantasy than high fantasy. Yet it has that sliver of magic and magical creatures (dragons, of course) to spice up the lyrical story. In other words, the author avoids over-doing the chosen one approach, and instead creates very believable characters in a believable world.
I can't believe I waited so long to read this teenage romance. This is a fantastic high fantasy about a teenage girl, but you can tell this is the author's debut book. I have confidence Osterlund will do wonderful things with the rest of this trilogy. I had a great time reading the fast-paced story. I want to see what she can do with the romantic tone when she has a little time under her belt.
I adore the character Aurelia. She is the type of woman of steel I always imagined a princess would be. Her blended family situation came across cleanly, with just a little violence.
